Digested read + Saul Bellow | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/books/series/digestedread+saulbellow
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Saul Bellow's Heart by Greg Bellow – digested readhttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/apr/14/saul-bellows-heart-digested
John Crace reduces the memoir written by the son of the American literary titan to a reputation-changing 600 words<p>In the painful days after Saul's death, I resolved to keep my grief private. But as I listened to yet more parvenus, such as the in-all-senses-diminutive Martin Amis, seek to claim my father as their own, I felt a need to put a halt to the absurd conflation of literary figure and&nbsp;family man. These self-appointed, self-serving narratives described a deified figure I didn't recognise. Saul was an intensely private man who would have hated to see his shortcomings ruthlessly exposed. But tough: he was a mean, cantankerous old sod, and it's about time I got some emotional and financial payback.</p><p>As a psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapist of some 40 years standing, you might have expected me to adopt a holistic approach to understanding my father. But I have found it much more helpful to divide his life into two: the Young Saul, who loved me greatly and was generally a good bloke; and the Old Saul, who found it hard to show how much he loved me and was generally a bit of a shit. This way I don't need to make sense of why he appeared to have a complete personality change. Or, indeed, examine the more troubling possibility that he never did care for me, and that I and the rest of his family were inconvenient physical manifestations of his narcissism.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/apr/14/saul-bellows-heart-digested">Continue reading...</a>Saul BellowBooksBiographyCultureSun, 14 Apr 2013 16:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/apr/14/saul-bellows-heart-digestedMatt BleaseTale of two Bellows … Saul Bellow's Heart. Photograph: Matt BleaseMatt BleaseTale of two Bellows … Saul Bellow's Heart. Photograph: Matt BleaseJohn Crace2013-04-14T16:00:01Z